Jesus' Love has the Power to Meet our Needs
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
-Philippians 4:19
In the Gospels, we read of the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:35-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:4-13). This passage shows us that Jesus’ love has the power to meet our needs. Jesus
trusted the Father and was able to meet the need of the multitude.
After
John the Baptist was beheaded, Jesus had sent out the twelve disciples to
minister on their own. When they returned, Jesus withdrew by boat to Bethsaida,
which was on the northeast shore of the Sea of Galilee.[1] Here Jesus thought they
would be alone. People from the surrounding towns heard of His travel, however,
and followed Jesus on foot. Perhaps because a strong headwind had slowed them
down,[2] by the time Jesus landed,
a large crowd had gathered to meet Him. Jesus had compassion on them because He
saw them as sheep without a shepherd.[3] Jesus began teaching them
about the kingdom of God[4] and healing those who were
sick.[5]
As
evening was approaching, the disciples came to Jesus and suggested that the
crowds be sent away so they could get themselves some food because they were in
a remote place. Jesus told the disciples that the people didn’t need to be sent
away and that the disciples should give them something to eat. The disciples
said it would take eight months’ wages to feed that many people.[6] The usual pay for one
day’s work was one denarius, which means about 200 denarii would be earned in
eight months.[7]
Jesus asked the disciples to go see how many loaves there were. Andrew found a
boy who had five small barley loaves and two small fish, but he could not see
how this small amount could feed so many people.[8]
Jesus
directed the disciples to have the people sit down in groups. They sat down in
groups of fifties and hundreds.[9] Then Jesus took the loaves
and fish, looked up to heaven, gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave
them to the disciples who gave them to the people. He also divided the two fish
among everyone.
All
the people ate and were satisfied. Attempts to explain away this miracle by
suggesting that Jesus and His disciples shared their lunch and then the crowd
followed their example are inadequate. Jesus, as God incarnate, could easily
have performed this miracle. In Ezekiel 34:23-31, God “promised that when the
true Shepherd came the desert would become rich pasture where the sheep would
be gathered and fed. In this passage, Jesus feasts with His followers in the
desert. Just as Psalm 23:1 states, “Jesus is the Shepherd who provides for all
of our needs so that
we lack nothing.”[10] And would the crowd have
wanted to make Jesus King if he had convinced them to give up their lunch? Not
likely![11]
The
disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of pieces that were left over. The Jews
regarded bread as a gift from God, and it was required that any scraps that
fell on the ground during a meal should be picked up. The pieces were gathered
in small wicker baskets that the people carried as part of their daily attire.
As there were twelve basketfuls, each disciple must have returned with his own
basket full.[12]
The fact that there was such a significant amount left over shows that everyone
was adequately fed.[13] There were 5,000 men with
additional women and children. The size of the crowd was amazing since the
neighboring towns of Capernaum and Bethsaida likely had a population of only
2,000-3,000 each.[14] Matthew was the only
writer of the gospels to note the additional women and children. “He was
writing to the Jews, who did not permit women and children to eat with men in
public”; so, they sat in a place by themselves.[15]
John
tells us that after the people saw the miracle Jesus had performed they began
to believe that He was the Son of Man. This miracle showed Jesus as the
supplier of human need and set the stage for His teaching that He was the bread
of life.[16]
Knowing that the people were going to try to make Him king by force, Jesus
withdrew to a mountain by Himself.
Jesus
once again showed that He had compassion on others. Jesus still has compassion
on the hungry and needy today. He desires that we, His followers, “give them
something to eat.”[17] Proverbs 28:27 says that
those who give to the poor will not lack anything. Jesus told the wealthy man
that he should sell his possessions and give to the poor so that he could have
treasure in heaven.[18] Paul told masters they
were told to provide for their slaves.[19] Families are admonished
to provide for their relatives.[20] Titus was told that the
church was to devote themselves to good in order to provide for urgent needs of
the people.[21]
Warren
Wiersbe points out that the practical lesson here is that whenever there is a
need, we should give all we have. The boy was generous to give up his lunch.
Like the widow’s mite,[22] no gift is too small when
it is given with willingness,[23] “which is the motive of
true generosity.”[24] We can be like the
disciples and send people away, making excuses as the disciples did and
claiming we lack resources, but that is not what God would have us to do. We
should not simply measure our resources, but pray “to determine God’s will and
trust Him to meet the need.”[25] He does not expect us to
be the manufacturers; we are only His distributors.[26] God has promised to meet all
our needs.[27]
We in turn should do all we can to meet the needs of those around us; we should be willing to give all we have; no gift is too small.
[2]
Zondervan, Mark 6:33.
[3]
Mark 6:34
[4]
Mark 6:34, Luke 9:11
[5]
Matthew 14:14; Luke 9:11
[6]
Mark 6:37
[7]
Zondervan, Mark 6:37.
[8]
John 6:8
[9]
Mark 6:40
[10]
Zondervan, Mark 6:42.
[11]
Warren Wiersbe, “Matthew 14”, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, The Complete New
Testament, (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2007), pg. 42.
[12]
Zondervan, Mark 6:43.
[13]
Zondervan, Luke 9:17.
[14]
Zondervan, Mark 6:44.
[15]
Zondervan, Matthew 14:21.
[16]
Zondervan, John 6:1-15.
[17]
Wiersbe, p. 42.
[18]
Matthew 19:21
[19]
Colossians 4:1
[20]
1 Timothy 5:8
[21]
Titus 3:14
[22]
Mark 12:41-44
[23]
2 Corinthians 8:12
[24]
Zondervan, 2 Corinthians 8:12.
[25]
Wiersbe, “Mark 6:1-56”, p. 107
[26]
IBID
[27]
Philippians 4:19
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